Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $280.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target increased by Robert W. Baird from $230.00 to $280.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Phillip Securities downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. CLSA raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.49.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $271.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $247.48 and a 200-day moving average of $221.54. The company has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $274.14.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,107,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 209.2% during the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.